What if food for city dwellers is grown in the city, at large scale?
Jon Markus Nyjordet and Jenny Helene Haugen Thor speculates on what sustainable local food production in urban areas can look like in a near-future scenario where the emerging technology of artificial farming is implemented large-scale to create resilient and local food production, alleviating the coming food crisis caused by climate change and growing populations.
[…] we imagine a near future where temperatures are higher than what is normal today and traditional farming is challenging due to more extreme weather. […]our design fiction looks at what it could look like if Norway prepared before the global food crisis occurred. In this future we are imagining that underground facilities for artificial farming are integrated as part of apartment complexes within the city centre of Oslo, providing residents and the local food markets with freshly produced greens and vegetables. The design fiction is made as a prospect describing the first of these buildings developed in cooperation between Oslo Municipality, Statsbygg and the fictional company Urban Agriculture Norway.
Jon Markus Nyjordet and Jenny Helene Haugen Thor
The prospect visualizes “Glittertind”, one of four apartment complexes planned to be built in Oslo. The front page depicts the modern, green and lush apartment complex in its entirety, emphasized by a large window with a direct view into its fully autonomous underground vertical food production facilities. Further, it shows an example of one of the apartments that receive fresh air from the farming facilities and comes equipped with a personal greenhouse. Residents have a monthly quota on fresh fruits, greens and vegetables, which covers each household’s monthly need. The produce is always fresh and has a high nutrient level compared to that of traditional farming, with little to no transportation needed in the distribution process and no use of pesticides in production. Further, the prospect describes the functions of the concept and further steps in Oslo Municipality’s plan for Oslo to become self-sufficient within 2080.
Jon Markus Nyjordet and Jenny Helene Haugen Thor
By creating a design fiction imagining a future where artificial farming becomes a more integrated part of society and presenting this to people of the public the project looks at the reactions that emerge in the meeting between people and future technology, and what this could mean for the future implementation of artificial farming in urban areas.